William R. King - Legacy and Honors

Legacy and Honors

• In 1852 the Oregon Territory named King County for him, as well as Pierce County after President-elect Pierce. These counties became part of Washington Territory when it was created the following year. Washington did not become a state until 1889; much later, King County amended its designation and its logo to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.. The county took its action after passing an ordinance; it was later reaffirmed by statutory action (SB 5332, April 19, 2005) of the State of Washington.
• The King Residence Quadrangle at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his alma mater, is named for him. It is the site of Mangum, Manly, Ruffin and Grimes house residences. *An 1830 portrait of King is held at Phi Hall by The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, a debating society which he had joined during college.

• King was a co-founder of (and named) Selma, a town on the Alabama River town after the Ossianic poem The Songs of Selma. After his death, city officials and some of King's family wanted to move his body to Selma. Other family members wanted his body to remain at Chestnut Hill. In 1882, the Selma City Council appointed a committee to select a new plot for King's body. After 29 years, his remains were removed from his plantation and reinterred in the city's Live Oak Cemetery under an elaborate white marble mausoleum erected by the city.